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Opinion: In sci-fi worlds, the science matters

By Public Affairs

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For science fiction enthusiast David Litt, a chemistry grad student, it’s not OK if the atmosphere around an imagined planet is made of gasses that are highly explosive when mixed together. The science matters.

“In order to create a new world,” he says, “a writer has to understand our world first – because ours is real and it works – Earth is the archetype of a known world that supports life.”

Recently, Litt did some research to find out what sci-fiction writers themselves are saying about scientific plausibility in their works. He discovered a lively conversation and even a toolbox to help non-scientists keep their fantasies real.

Read Litt’s blog post on the website of the grad-student magazine Berkeley Science Review.